I gotta admit I did get a little bit afraid when I was considering getting a labrador after watching Marley and Me. “Will my dog also be as unruly as Marley?’ I silently used to wonder whenever a lab caught my gaze. Anyway 3 months down the road and my Drew is growing up to be one fine and dandy dog – Although he’s still a pup (4.5 months now only) like Elliot, Drew is teaching me lessons about life, and ironically about God
Some dogs lead us to heaven
As I continue my 3rd month looking after my pup, I am discovering more and more about the virtues in life – funny how God uses such creatures to teach his most prized possession about His love – well at least that’s what I have learnt from looking after Drew and taking care of him – and how that is a reflection of how my Heavenly Dad is also looking down on him. I will share a few anecdotes below
Give me my daily puppy bread
My dog knows that no matter what food will always come. My dog is one greedy fellow but one thing I have learnt about him – He will wait – no matter what Drew will wait. Yes he will pound on my door at 5.30 am (that’s his morning breakfast time) and whine and do whatever he can to wake me up. But he will wait. How do I know this? Because as soon as I open the door, there he is, looking up at me in a sitting position, tail wagging – he knows that I will always, no matter how groggy, sleepy, angry I am, I will give him his morning food. He doesnt go off elsewhere looking for food – he waits just by my door, pounding annoyingly, yet faithfully.
Similarly in my own life I too have been like Drew, waiting on God. However unlike Drew, I don’t sometimes choose to wait at the master’s door ; rather I choose to check out other avenues – I choose to look at other things, satisfy my needs and my ego with things of this world, only to find it’s crap – which brings me to my next anecdote:
Don’t eat GARBAGE ( Luke 14:15-24)
I get very angry with my boy whenever he goes out scooting for rubbish outside whenever we go for a walk. Many times I have lost my cool and flogged him outside in the process taking out my frustration on him – the intention is good, I don’t want my boy to eat crap when I have better food for him at home – milk, high quality tin meat, high-class kiebels waiting for him and ONLY for him but my approach is dead wrong. As a result, because of his “nosy” attitude, I have no choice but to put him on a leash and guide him whenever we go for walks.
However in the process of doing this, it got me thinking about my own relationship with God. How many times have I chosen to settle for less? – To eat garbage food thinking it would satisfy me only to realize it’s crap later on (Drew eventually spits out whatever he eats, sometimes voluntarily sometimes the other way around). How many times I took, like Drew, when unleashed in the outside world make poor decisions and rather than heed to God’s voice and respond to his lavish banquet choose to settle for garbage and in that process sin?
Can you clean my crap please?
I wish I could teach Drew how to use the toilet at home. It would be cool if he could do his business in my toilet and conveniently flush and clean himself after he’s done. But just as how my dog is just a mere creature, I realize I do alot of cleaning up for him, especially when he litters outside my garden. I don’t hit him, or scold him, I just quietly clean up his mess. You gotta understand that pups have very poor bowel control and it would be only after he reaches about 12 months that he would be able to control his bowels and bladder.
I can’t help but also think the time when God also cleans up my mess. Just as how Drew doesn’t sometimes notice his mess is gone, and that I have quietly done it while he’s busy occupying himself with a chew toy, the same I would think it is with our heavenly pops. We get into a crap of a mess and we ask him to help us clean. And He beautifully does it on the Cross and through Reconciliation. Just as how I need to wait for Drew to “grow up” our Abba also patiently waits for us to “grow up” and try not to make anymore mess (John 8:11)
Go boy Go! (Psalm 37:4 Hebrews 12:1-5)
I love it when Drew does something which brings delight to my heart – whether it’s a simple command to obey, or learning something new (I recently taught him how to shake hands!), or even just choosing to just come to me whenever I kneel down and spread out my arms. For a minute there I forget about wanting to strangle him for creating a mess in the morning or chewing on my slippers the day before – for a minute there, I just accept him as my puppy with love, joy and happiness. You can see me for that brief moment shouting “good dog” with a grin plastered on my face and just patting him and giving him a doggy hug. Once in a while I will also give him a doggy biscuit which he will just wag his tail and gleefully accept!
And I think this is the same when we choose to turn away from sin and walk with God – we don’t know whether we’re doing is right, we won’t even know whether what God is really calling us to do (Drew sometimes has no clue at what I am trying to get at but he will still walk towards me anyway) but as long as we walk toward Him – through our prayer, through our worship, through our attentive meditation on the gospels, I think God is out there also shouting “atta boy! good boy – did you guys see that, MY BOY! MY BOY turned his eyes away from sin – I gotta have that on instant replay! – and ready to just embrace us with arms wide open. Just as I know how distracting the world can be especially when we’re outside and Drew after looking around chooses to follow his earthly master, the same it is with Jesus.
God alone DOES know how many temptations and struggles we have but he always asks us to trust Him, even if we may not know what He wants or what He’s getting at. He invites us to journey with him. Just as how the Father runs out to embrace his long-lost son, it brings me a real intrisic joy whenever I see Drew running towards me after overcoming the distractions around him (stray dogs, dog crap, garbage, mysterious scents etc.)
Here’s a picture of my dog! (Isaiah 49:16)
I love to show picture’s of my cutie pie to my friends. It brings me such great delight to share a picture of him with my colleagues at work and to hear them go “awww” whenever they see a picture of him. I once brought him over to a friend’s place and she went all fuzzy-wuzzy when she saw him in my car. I can’t help but feel proud I have a beautiful and adorable (not to mention super loving dog!). There are times too especially when I am away for my work I would pull up pictures of Drew and just think about him for a moment – savouring our time together and looking ever so forward to seeing him again when I return back from my trips.
And I believe that’s how it is with God. I believe He too looks at His palm, He too is constantly thinking about us, checking our hearts to see where we are at, what’s on our mind and where are we going? And he does this purely out of love – He loves us uniquely and wonderfully because we are His. I mean if I could feel so much affection for my dog, what more for a God who fashioned us after His own image and likeness? And when we understand God’s love for us, then it all makes sense right? – why he would die for us, why he would carve our names on his palm, why he’s constantly telling us to not fret, why he wants us to listen to His voice? We are His. It’s as simple as that. Just as how Drew is mine, we are His.
In Conclusion
Drew is still teaching me each and every day, whether it’s about love or patience or kindness, in many ways, God is using my dog to reach out to me, to remind me of life lessons, to remind me about his love, about my relationship with Him, and to also remind me to not give up, that even if I have garbage in my mouth, He will still pull it out of my mouth, or make me spit it out; that he’s always waiting for me to run back to him and not get caught up with the distractions of the world.
I will leave you with this one thought – Drew always, no matter how harsh I have treated him, no matter the shelling he gets from me from time to time, no matter how long I have been away from Him will always be ready to greet me when I come back, or whenever I open the door to him – are we also the same with God? Do we turn our backs when things get sour, or when God tries to discipline us? Do we also eagerly wait for Him at the door? Or are we too proud or resigned to come to Him?
Isn’t it a wonder that all dogs go to heaven?
